ptor. All he had ever wanted was to go home, and now he knew that he
was never going to achieve that goal. In his heart, he hated Ozma for
doing this to him. The very least she could do would have been to bring
his family here! Why was she so structured about things? This was hardly
the stuff that nice fairy tales were made of!

Graham's apartment was in a very secluded part of the palace where he
would not have to see anyone unless he elected to. There were no
neighbors to speak of. Graham sort of preferred it that way. He did not
want to speak his mind about the cruel little Queen to anyone. She was
so mean that he feared she would make a cow-bell out of him if he seemed
the least bit insubordinate.... So he sat in an old settee and brooded.
He had a good supply of books to keep him company, and all of the Ozian
celebrities had agreed to visit him often. At the time, he had agreed to
these visits. But now, as he sat staring at the wall, he wished that
they would not come. He yearned only to be left alone. But one can,
after all, only be left alone for a short while before he becomes
lonesome. And Graham was not so very long in becoming anxious for some
sort of companionship, or at least some form of stimulation. He went to
a bookshelf and perused the titles on the various tomes that were there.
_The Emerald City of Oz_ was among them. Graham sullenly took it in his
hands and flopped it open. To his astonishment, he found there a
reference to Dorothy's aunt and uncle being allowed to come and live in
Oz to be close to her. Not only that, but it recounted how Dorothy had
come to visit Oz on many occasions, gone back home to Kansas, and even
told people about Oz while she was there! This really made Graham feel
insulted. If Ozma could trust a girl, why not a boy? For the next couple
of hours, Graham pored over the many books that he found in the palace
library's vast collection. Each and every time a person, adult, boy, or
girl, came to Oz, Ozma had always treated him as she had Dorothy. In
fact, the very Shaggy Man that Ozma had mentioned actually had to beg to
stay in Oz! Ozma had practically insisted that he be sent home! Why was
she acting so cruelly toward himself, but toward no one else? He stood
up indignantly and decided then and there to make his way back to the
throne room and have a word with Ozma. That mean little girl would have
a darn good explanation for this, or she would have a black eye!

Graham walked